Communism vs. Capitalism I
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No political system has ever proved to be wholly effective. Neither a monarchy nor an oligarchy, a democracy nor a republic has ever found definitive solution. And this is simply because the system of government is not everything. If individuals are not conscious of their duty as citizens, if they don't understand that they must live in harmony with each other, a country will always be in chaos whatever the political regime. There will always be excesses, disorders and tribulations.
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Symbolically, democracy represents government by the stomach. Can the desires, appetites and instincts of the masses be relied on to have an accurate appreciation of what is good and what is bad? No. They have been given the freedom to make known their demands but have they ever been known to use that freedom to demand for the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness? No. Have they ever demanded light or love? No. again. The only thing the stomach and belly demand is more to eat and the freedom to vandalize everything and make everything dirty. The masses haven't got an exalted ideal because an exalted ideal requires a head and there is no head. Also, of course, the head must be enlightened, luminous and disinterested for, if the individual at the top has exactly the same instincts as the clamouring masses below, he will be worthless. *
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Initiates work for the kingdom of god and His Righteousness and the kingdom of god is a monarchy. This means that all the countries of the world should be organized on the pattern of the universe whose king is God. Now, I am not saying that, in our day, a monarchy would be preferable to a republic; no, I am speaking on the level of principles. I have no objection to government by the populace as long as the populace is enlightened. If it is not enlightened it should not govern. Similarly, if the head is unenlightened, ignorant and cruel, it should not govern, either. As a matter of fact, it is ofgen the head, not the stomach, that does the most damage. You must understand, therefore, that am speaking symbolically and that, in the realm of symbols, everything is perfectly clear and mathematically exact. If you try to understand the world of symbols  which is the world of principles  you will never go wrong. but human beings get everything mixed up; this is why the world is still the Tower of Babel and people cannot understand each other.
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I want to talk to you about the distribution of wealth, and I know that it is a question that troubles most human beings. It should help you to understand the rightful order of things if we look at the human body. Why the human body? Because Cosmic Intelligence has conceived creation in such a way as to leave clues and pointers throughout nature so that men might find these clues and, by reflecting and meditating on them, be capable of reconstructing all that this sublime Intelligence thought and desired and planned. In this way, when we study plants, crystals, the stars, rivers and mountains, the sun and the planets and, above all, man an the pattern on which he is built, we can discover the intentions of Cosmic Intelligence and the splendour and subtlety of Its design.
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One of the things we seen when we study a human being is that every part of him demands something: the stomach demands food; the ears demand sound; the eyes demand light, colours, the sun; the mouth and nose, yes, and the sexual organs, too, they all clamour for something. Our whole body, therefore, is constantly asking for something and this is perfectly natural, marvellous. The only thing is that there has to be a head to guide, control and organize all this, otherwise the results would be catastrophic, for a man would eat and drink too much or too little, he would neither hear nor see the dangers that threaten him. It is right and normal for the body to make its demands, therefore, but the head must judge which demands must be satisfied and which should be denied and exactly when, where and now how much to give. There is never any shortage of demands; they are always there, but what about the head? Where is the head that is supposed to distribute to each member what it needs in accordance with divine rules and in divine proportions?
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I don't wish to criticize either monarchy or democracy; they both have their good and bad aspects. What interests me is the spiritual dimension of this question; this is why I say that for the members to clamour for what they want is normal and magnificent but that there must be a head capable of examining their demands and deciding whether they should be met or not. Whether it be inwardly, for an individual, or outwardly, for society as a whole, an enlightened head is needed to guide the members and correct any deviations. And the members must believe in that head and follow its lead.
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The pattern on which the human organism was created by nature is our most reliable frame of reference. It reveals the roots of the distribution of wealth as we see it today and of all the contestations, jealousies and revolutions in the modern world. Actually, however far back you go in human history, you will find that this problem has always existed. Someone who was stronger or more skilful than his fellows would be a more successful hunter, for instance, and become richer by bringing back more game. The unequal distribution of wealth is considered unjust but, in fact, it is perfectly just. *
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Nature abhors equality, uniformity, parity.
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Since the Revolution of 1789, France's motto has been 'Liberty, Equality, Fraternity' but, in reality equality doesn't exist in the universe. It is inequality that reigns. On no level of creation is there equality. You will protest, 'But we have made equality a law!' Yes, but a law is something theoretical and abstract; a text to hang on the wall. The fact is that equality exists nowhere; nature asks for diversity and diversity engenders inequality. Look at minerals, plants and animals: what variety! And human beings? Although you will occasionally find a person who looks exactly like someone else, there are always some differences, for instance, in the colour of the skin or hair and, in any case, in their hands, since they can always be distinguished by their finger prints. *
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The result of this diversity is that the faculties, tastes and aspirations of individuals are different and, consequently, that each one has different intellectual, emotional and physical capabilities. Some will accomplish noble deeds and win all the prizes in competitions or in the struggle for life, while others will always trail along behind because they haven't got the same capabilities. It is because of this difference in capabilities. therefore, that some human beings have more than others. Is this normal? *
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Absolutely! Should we be indignant about it? Absolutely not! But people never think things through; they allow themselves to be led on by others and start shouting and protesting like everybody else. But the important thing for us, at the moment, is to study and understand the question and be very clear about it. If, on examination, we find that there is something to protest and fight about, very well; but first let's get it all quite clear.
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However much people possess, it is normal and just. You will object, 'But they have got all that by exploiting and assassinating others', Yes, that's true: man has a centuries-old tendency that drives him to gratify all his appetites. As time wore on, he saw that it was necessary to have a code of ethics  not that he had any real desire to be ethical, but it was to his advantage to have some rules for, if theft and murder were forbidden, he would be safer  but this moral code is still very far from perfect. Men still try to steal from others, to take what doesn't belong to them, if not on the physical plane (because on the physical plane one is always in danger of being found out and put in prison) on other, invisible, planes: people steal each other's thoughts and sentiments. The same old instincts are still manifesting themselves  more and more vigorously, in fact  but on other, subtler levels. *
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Everyone knows this today: you are all aware of the existence of industrial espionage, for example, by which companies try to obtain the secret plans or formulae of their business competitors. This is simply one manifestation of those age-old instincts of acquisitivness and domination. It is impossible to get rid of these instincts and, if you do not know how to transform and sublimate them, you may prevent them from manifesting themselves on the physical plane, but they will only seek an outlet on the mental and astral planes. In this case, the crimes are the same but the form is different because it is invisible. As long as Initiation is not there to give a spiritual orientation to these forces, they will keep trying to manifest themselves. What can you expect? Ambition, sensuality and anger are formidable forces which must find an outlet.
The urge to compete and to possess more and more is absolutely normal. At what point does it become abnormal? Our own bodies tell us this so clearly that no philosopher could object. If I gave you only my own opinion, everyone else could say, 'No, no; that's not it at all! In my opinion it is thus and so...' and the argument would be endless. I'm not giving you a personal opinion, therefore; I'm giving you the opinion of Nature herself - and this is something that you are obliged to accept  and you will see how she has solved the problem through us.
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The question is this: 'Is it legitimate to amass wealth?' And the answer is: 'Of course it is!' What does the stomach do when you give it some food? It immediately takes possession of all that it needs and sends the rest on elsewhere; it doesn't keep what it doesn't need. In fact, even what it does take is not used only for itself; it processes it and distributes it to the rest of the body. The stomach only keeps what it needs for a few hours; after a few hours it feels the need for more food so it eats again. And this is what keeps a man healthy and enables him to talk and move about and work and sing, etc. But suppose that the stomach were to say, ' From now onI'm going what I have to those idiots? What do they matter? *
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There could be a famine any day now; you never know what the future holds, and I have a big family to look after.' So it starts keeping everything for itself and, in no time at all, it is very ill, simply because it has broken the law of impersonal unselfishness and brotherhood. And then you have a tumour or a cancer or whatever else you like to call it. And the same thing applies to the lungs, the head and any other organ.
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Human beings are all cells of a single body. In fact, the number of cells in our own bodies is far greater than the number of human beings on earth; the brain alone contains billions of cells. And if all these billions of cells in our bodies manage to live happily together as a family, how is it that human beings are too stupid to achieve the same harmony and unity and have never managed to do away with the barriers that seperate them? If only they could achieve this universal brotherhood, there would be such prosperity that neither countries nor individuals would ever feel the need to hoard their wealth and defend it against others; there would always be enough of everything for everyone.
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Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov

Communism vs. Capitalism II
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So, as you can see, I am in favour of wealth; it is necessary. The only thing is that I have never looked for wealth on the physical plane because, on this plane, it is a burden. You always have to think about it in order to keep it, and that means a life of suspicion and anxiety. Wealth is fine, but it never leaves you in peace for one minute. And not only that: if you are weak, sensual of vindictive, it can very quickly make a wreck of you, morally and even physically, because it makes it possible for you to indulge yourself to excess. Yes, wealth is good, but you have to be very strong if you are to put it to good use.
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And what about poverty? Well, poverty is not so marvellous either, for the poor are always humilated and obliged to submit to others; they can never fulfill their noblest aspirations. Poverty is not really very wonderful. In fact, if St. Francis of Assisi came back today, he would get hardly anyone to follow him. Everything is very different now; times have changed. In St. Francis' day, men were capable of living in constant awareness of the divine world and of eternal life; today, they are so deeply plunged into the world of matter and so avid for comfort and ease that, no matter how much you talk to them about Heaven, no one is interested.
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In the past, the poor were quite ready to accept that others were rich. In fact, the belief was deeply rooted in the soul of the people that, if God gave a man wealth, it was because he deserved it; no one found anything to quarrel with in that. Wealth, like intelligence and beauty, was considered a gift and no one questioned a person's right to it. But nowadays, as soon as someone has a little more than his neighbours, they are all there, saying, 'Why? Why him? Why not me?' Even if someone is a nonentity, a complete bungler, he still thinks he has every right. Yes, this is how it is today, and this is why we see wise men living in poverty while fools strut about in luxury.
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And yet poverty is a blessing for those who are wise enough to understand it for it allows them to evolve, to advance on the path that leads to God. Those who are uninterested in approaching the Deity want everything they can get here and, because their ambition is for the things of the earth, for material possessions, thier life is a constant series of quarrels, turbulence and crime. A wise man will never start a revolution in order to become rich. on the contrary, he will say, 'If people only knew how rich I am! I'm rich as Croesus. Richer than Midas! *
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Everything I touch turns gold.' And all the other poor wretches, who have no idea how to become spiritually rich, spend their time fighting each other for material possessions.
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Now, one of this means that I think emloyers have the right to exploit workers. No, those who exploit others are not intelligent either. Look at the way the cells of our bodies behave: they don't try to exploit each other; on the contrary, they all try to help each other. When one organ is deficient, another one compensates in order to restore the balance. Some really extraordinary examples of this have been seen.
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I realize, of course, that what I am saying may not be understood; it is not possible, in the space of an hour and a half, to say everything that needs to be said about problems that have never ceased to torment mankind. But I can try, at least, to get you to reflect on them.
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From my point of view, true wealth is in the realm of the soul and the spirit; this is where i look for it. And I know that, if I have that wealth, I shall also have material wealth: it will come to me of its own accord. Of course, for the time being, this correspondence between inner and outer wealth cannot be seen here, on earth. And yet it is a cosmic law: external wealth must correspond to inner wealth and external poverty must correspond to inner poverty. In nature, this is so: the animals, plants and minerals that contain a wealth of chemical, nutritional and mediacal properties are also outwardly rich in matter, form and colour. But, because they have free will, human beings have diverted and distorted things and those who are inwardly richer than others in patience, love, intelligence, generosity and purity are often outwardly poorer. And those who are poorest in qualities and virtues are the richest in outward things.
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Actually, as this law cannot lie, we can sometimes see its manifestation in people's faces or bodies. Every lofty, luminous thought and every harmonious sentiment creates corresponding geometrical forms. And every dark thought and unbridled passion creates chaotic forms. This is why those who possess intelligence, love and purity will always attract to themselves gold and precious stones and all that is best in creation. Believe me: this is a universal law. And the others, those who are inwardly poor, dirty and decrepit will always attract conditions that correspon to their inner state. This, too, is the law. you must say, ' Oh, that's a great conclusion!' but, in point of fact, you shouldn't even think about that; you should only think about working to acquire spiritual wealth so as to be in a position to help others and to heal, console and guide them. Every other kind of wealth is a burden.
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Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov

Communism vs. Capitalism III
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The whole of the modern world is divided into two camps with Capitalists on one side and Communists on the other. Actually, Capitalism and Communism are not simply two different attitudes concerning the ownership of the means of production and the distribution of material wealth; they are much more than that. *
Take the example of a young girl: in the past  and even, to a certain extent, today  a young girl starts out as a capitalist. She gives no one the right to kiss or fondle her: her charms are her own private property. *
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Her parents have always told her she should be a capitalist and, for a time at any rate, she follows their advice. But, as the notion of communism spreads, it infiltrates every domain and, eventually, works its way into the mind of this young girl who begins to want to share her beauty and all the charms of her body with others. She has become a communist. It is no different for a boy who wants to make love to every girl: he, too, is a communist and distributes his quintessence to others. Yes, indeed; all that is a form of communism. Of course, I know that no one else understands it like these things. This is why I say that Eskimos are more communistic than anyone, because, when a stranger visits them they lend him their wives.
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Let's say, then, that a girl who gives away her capital to the first comer is a communist. Yes, but why does she give away her capital? So as to rob the boy of his. That kind of communism is not very honest. The girl becomes very sweet and generous, true, but only in order to get her hands on the boy's capital, because no one can survive without capital.
A young girl possesses considerable capital, therefore, and with it she can buy all kinds of things or, at the very least, get an invitation to a restaurant for a good meal - after which it is she who will be 'eaten'. But, let's say no more about that! As you can see, it is all quite complicated.
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The truth is that Nature shows us that capitalism and communism are both necessary. What is a child? A capitalist. He screams to be given whatever takes his fancy and wants to keep it all for himself. But one day, when he marries and has children of his own, he will be obliged to become a communist; it will be his turn to start sharing out his wealth. It is Nature herself who obliges us to be both capitalists and communists at different periods of our lives. We begin by being capitalists, for we have to become rich. If you want to help others, you must be rich; how can you help anyone if you possess nothing? You can't: If you are too poor, you can't even help your own wife and children. You have to be rich in order to help others. *
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Nature has given men all kinds of capital: their arms and legs, their eyes and ears, their genitals and their brains are all capital assets which they must put to work to earn riches which they can then share with others. Capitalism must be no more than a means, and the great mistake of Capitalists is to have made it an end in itself. In other words, Capitalists understand nothing about Capitalism - nor Communists about Communism, for that matter. You will soon see why.
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Do Communists really and truly practise communism? The Lord alone knows! If they are so eloquent in their condemnation of Capitalists and so ready to combat them, it is often because they would like to be as rich and powerful as them. Personally, I believe in communism. Why? Because Jesus was a communist, but a white communist, not a red communist. Communists and Capitalists alike should be instructed in an Initiatic school, for neither group thinks nor acts correctly. When you make wealth your goal, your ideal, all kinds of unforeseen problems result. On the other hand, if you practise communism without discernment, it will lead to other, equally dire results. If Communists and Capitalists refuse to be instructed in the light of Initiatic Science, they will massacre each other and civil war will pave the way for other wars. Neither group possesses the light that we can give them and that would enable them to work for a high ideal. They are working only for themselves; even when they seem to be working for others, in reality it is only for themselves.
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Communists and Capitalists must understand each other in order to help mankind. Both are necessary, for the two currents of capitalism and communism are at work simultaneously in the universe. Why do human beings make these two currents a cause for division as though the balance of the whole universe did not rest on them? Each side does its best to eliminate the other. They talk and talk, and the poor ignorant fools who know no better swallow all their stupid theories.
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To keep everthing for oneself is one philosophy; to give everything to others is another philosophy. But neither philosophy is the right one: there is a third solution. Both Capitalists and Communists must give all that they possess, that is to say, their ideas and thoughts and all their work, to a third principle, a principle that is divine. Communistis are ready to give, to be sure, but they give to human beings, and that doesn't really settle anything, for human beings are weak, fickle and ungrateful. And now, if we come back to the example of the young girl that I mentioned earlier, what conclusion can we draw? The conclusion that, instead of keeping everything for herself and being a capitalist or of distributing everything and being a communist, she should begin by becoming rich and giving everything to the Lord. Because the Lord is the only one who can advise her and tell her how much capital to distribute and how, when and whom to give it to.
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Nowadays, everybody is eager for instruction and education so as to earn money and be respected and admired, for all doors are open to the rich and educated, and this is just one more manifestation of man's everlasting partially for capitalism; that is to say, for possessions, property and positions of authority. To be sure, this urge takes different forms: some want wealth, others want knowledge. *
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Knowledge belongs to a higher order, perhaps, but the tendency is always the same: to be rich so as to have a monopoly and dominate others. Yes, those who are very knowledgeable behave exactly like the rich, like capitalists: they are aloof and hostile. As for communists, they are the ignorant, disinherited paupers of the world. They huddle together to share their miserable lot, their crusts of bread, their bottles of cheap wine, their cigarette butts. Yes, it is an advantage for the poor to share with others but, if ever they become rich, look out! There will be no more sharing, no more communism; they will instantly cut themselves off from everyone else. When people capitalists are poor they are communists and when they are rich they are capitalists because, if they continued to communists, they would have to share their wealth and they have not the least desire to share any of it. If you want millions of people to flock round you, there is nothing easier: all you have to do is invite all the beggars and vagrants to eat and drink, and they will come. The rich will never come.
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All those who are ignorant, weak and poor have communistic tendencies; they like to invite each other, to be together, to hug and kiss. They are very accessible, very warm and friendly, because they have nothing. Whereas it's impossible to get near the pundits of the intellectual world. If you want to see them you have to ask for an appointment months in advance and, even then, behave exactly like the rich. But this is all wrong: those who are rich in capacities and knowledge must not hold themselves aloof like haughty potentates, they must be friendly and brotherly and share their wealth. In this way they will be genuine communists. If they seek knowledge, they should do so as a means to help their fellow men and not simply for their own benefit.
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When I listen to all the political orators who make speeches on television, I can see that, whether they are Communists or Capitalists, they all have a capitalistic attitude: they all feel secure they are all despots; they have no love, no humility, no gentleness. *
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Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov

Capitalism vs. Communism IV
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Communists are proud of their philosophy; they feel generous and altruistic. But, as they know nothing about the structure of human beings, they don't know that to improve their material conditions while rejecting all their spiritual aspirations can only result in disaster. In the long run, they become dishonest, deceitful and cruel  animals. A Communist who fails to cultivate his spiritual, mystical dimension, ends by becoming as bad as the worst Capitalist: unjust, violent, authoritarian and always ready to misuse his strenght and power. So many examples are there to show that, in spite of their magnificient philosophy, a great many Communists end by betraying their principles. Yes, because it is easy to adopt an ideal philosophy, but it is much more difficult to put it into practice in one's everyday life; and yet that is the one thing that is essential. *
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Cosmic Intelligence has designed human beings in such a way that they cannot reach perfection unless they maintain ties with a higher world which alerts them to possible dangers and gives them light and strength. A man who relies exclusively on his own limited intellect can neither foresee nor fully understand events, with the result that he makes catastrophic mistakes in every area. All those for whom power lies in technology, industry and material progress and who imagine that, because they have all these things at their command, even God is going to obey them, are bound, sooner or later, to bite the dust. When their conduct is inspired exclusively by their desire to lord it over everyone else and ignores the intentions of Cosmic Intelligence, they stir up ceratin layers of the physical and psychic atmosphere and provoke the hostility of fearful powers and forces which unleash a terrible reaction.
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There are some tremendous surprises in store for political thinkers and heads of State who deceide to solve problems without studying the underlying nature of man. For the need for spiritual nourishment will awaken in the breasts of the oppressed with such force that nothing, neither threats nor prisons nor death, will persuade them to give it up. And this will come about in the near future. This is why Russia faces the choice between being attacked by other powerful and well-armed powers of changing its attitude and replacing its form of communism by the true communism of Christ. When Russia does this it will be playing a truly glorious role because it will bring a new culture and a new spiritual civilisation to the whole world.
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I know, of course, that, for several years, Russia has been conducting research into parapsychological phenomena. But what is the purpose of this research? They are trying to find out if these means can be used to detect the thoughts and plans of others and emit waves to influence them and act on their minds. In this way, they hope to be able to subject others to their own will and get them to serve their interests. Obviously, the people who do this have no knowledge of Initiatic Science. As long as their only aim is to dominate other countries - ecen to the point of trying to kill people by sending them objects impregnated with noxious emanations - it proves that they are only interested in gratifying their lower, destructive, demonic nature. And this is black magic. I have known people who dabbled in this dangerous field and they have all disappeared. Yes, because they were ignorant fools who aroused within themselves forces as dark as those they were trying to manipulate and these forces simply annihilated them. *
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Several times in the course of history whole continents have disappeared with all their inhabitants for no other reason than that they refused to acknowledge that higher forces and intelligences existed and that man must live in harmony with them.
And now, the Aquarian age is going to bring tremendous upheavals which will oblige the survivors to understand that there are laws which must be respected. The beauty, splendour and harmony of the new life that is being prepared is beyond imagination. All the creatures throughout the world who are secretly at work to bring about the Kingdom of God will unite and work together with such grandiose means that the strongholds of ignorance, materialism and despotism will crumble. This I am telling you and it will be so. Nothing will be strong enough to stand in the way of the new era, the Golden Age that has been foretold by many prophets, particularly by Nostradamus. This is why I say to all those who are unaware of these great truths: 'All of you who run after wealth and world domination so frantically, I warn you that, even if you succeed, you will never be satisfied. You are squandering all your most precious energies in pursuit of things that cannot last, that will disappear without a trace or, if they do leave a trace in the minds of men, it will be one of horror that will arouse the indignation and abhorrence of future generations.' Did Genghis Khan, Tamerlane, Attila, Nero, Hitler or Stalin leave traces fo glory? No, their triumph was short-lived and soon forgotten.
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It is time, now, to guide young people in a different direction. If I said that I knew pedagogical methods that exist nowhere on earth because they consist in starting the education of children even before they are born, all the educators in the world would be up in arms to prevent me from doing anything about it. I could give you proof of the efficacy of my method but I am prevented from doing so. for years and years, my application for French citizenship has been refused and, in this way, I am deprived of the means of helping your country to become the torch-bearer of humanity. *
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Thousands of foreigners have been naturalized, but I have been refused. Of course, I know why: apparently even the C.I.A suspected me of being a Soviet spy, but they have never been able to prove their suspicions.
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And shall I tell you what I told an eminent jurist (a very nice, intelligent man) with whom I was discussing the situation? I said, 'It's true that I belong to the secret service of another country, but I know so many tricks that it is impossible to catch me out. In spite of all the inquiries and investigations that have been carried out, no one has ever been able to pin anything on me; that's because I'm much too wily, much too far-sighted and wary. I think we should tell those responsible for the security of France that they should come and take lessons from me and learn how I deal with cases of this kind.' He began to laugh because, of course, he understood that I was joking. Then I told him, 'But now I've started to write memoirs and I want to talk about all my exploits as a spy. The trouble is, though, that I have a problem: I can't for the life of me remember the names of the people I have met or of the countries and towns I have been to. I can't even remember the dates. What a disaster to lose one's memory to such degree!' 'I can tell already that your book is going to be a best-seller', he said, 'Everybody will read it'. And he began to laugh, too.
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My dear brothers and sisters, Heaven has given me a philosophy that is capable of transforming every living creature on condition, of course, that they adopt it. And if there are people who want to do away with me - as, in the past, there have always been some who wanted to do away with those who brought something good, something just and divine to the world - they should remember that those who are massacred in this way always end by being glorified and sanctified. Even their ideas spread, for when they reincarnate, they have other powers and possibilities with which to continue the work that was interrupted. Whereas those who massacred them will also be eliminated... but they will be neither glorified nor sanctified. So, why do they persist in their ignorance of these sublime truths instead of working for a new order, for the one great family of the Universal White Brotherhood?
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Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov

Capitalism vs. Communism V
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If you study the Hebrew letter Aleph, you will see that it suggests a human figure with one arm raised to receive blessings from Heaven and the other reaching down to earth to distribute the gifts recreived. So, here again, we have a symbol which proves that we must be both capitalist and communist; a capitalist first, so as to be in a position, subsequently, to be a communist: first we must take and then we must give. As long as we continue to think of communism and capitalism as seperate and contradictory, we are in error. A capitalist who only accumulates and never distributes anything begins to rot like wheat that is stored for years in a granary instead of being sown: it ends by being eaten by mice or going mouldry. The desire to have property of one's own is perfectly normal; but to want to possess things without ever giving anything to others is a primitive instinct that needs to be educated. What we possess must also be used to do good.
There is nothing wrong in wanting possessions. The only thing is, of course, that you must not restrict your desire to material wealth because, in order to become materially rich you are always obliged to dislodge a competitor or even defraud someone every now and then. The earth is limited and space is limited and, when we enrich ourselves, it is almost inevitable that it should be at someone else's expense. But if your desire for enrichment is focused on the vastness, the immensity, the infinity of Heaven, however much you acquire you can never diminish that immensity, that inexhaustible ocean; you will never be doing anyone down. And, once you are rich, you can distribute your wealth to others. One hand takes, therefore, and the other gives. This is how, like Christ, you become Aleph, you become perfect. Only when the two notions of capitalism and communism are joined can they really be resolved.
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The ideal of an Initiate is to resemble Christ: Alpha and Omega, Aleph and Tav, the beginning and the end, the cause and the consequences, the divine world and the physical world. Aleph sets in motion the forces of Heaven and Tav gives them concrete reality on earth. The same notion is seen in the Solve et Coagula of the alchemists: Solve is the process which dissolves matter and renders it etheric, and Coagula is the process that condenses matter. As a matter of fact, the name that I received in India, OMRAAM, corresponds to these two processes of Solve and Coagula. OM is that which dissolves and makes things subtler whereas RAAM materializes things and gives them concrete reality. The name OMRAAM, therefore, symbolizes a whole process of concretization: the invisible, intangible idea that has to become incarnate on earth so that all human beings may see and touch it. And we all have to work in this direction. So many people say, 'Oh, I have some fantastic ideas!' Yes, but what do they do to realize them? Nothing; they are content to have ideas.
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When Jesus said, 'I am the Alpha and the Omega', he was saying, 'This is the tremendous philosophy that I am bringing you: to be linked to Heaven and draw down into oneself all Heaven's blessings so as to be able to project and materialize them here, on earth'. The same idea is expressed in another form in the Lord's Prayer: 'Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven'. The poor idealists who have nothing but their 'ideals' die of hunger; they are too sickly and weak. Their ideas may be excellent but they never achieve anything her, on earth. Whereas the rich are too often inwardly lifeless and rotten. Perfection demands both, therefore, and this is what we learn from the Teaching of the Universal White Brotherhood.
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The solution to the problems of Capitalism and Communism depends on Capitalists and Communists agreeing to broaden their concepts and view things from a much higher level. Instead of fighting each other - which gets them nowhere they must find some COMMON GROUND, for they need each other. This is the solution I have found. There is no conflict in me between communists and capitalists, they both offer a friendly hand to the other, they embrace and are happy together. Night and day, the capitalists within me are busy getting rich; even the most ardent Capitalists on earth are limited and passive comparison and don't work nearly so hard to get rich.
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What can you do if you confine yourself to the earth? If you want to drive fast, you run the risk of colliding with all the houses and trees and people that get in your way. You often have to go at twenty miles an hour to avoid running over the chickens. *
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Whereas, if you want to move about in the ether, even if you travel faster than the light, there is no danger of a collision. And this is where my inner capitalists are, up on that level; that is why there is nothing to hinder them in their work. Whereas the wretched Capitalists on earth will always be limited, even if they do everything in their power to swallow up the whole world. What can you expect? That's how it is on earth. I'm a greater Capitalist than any of them, and you cannot find fault with me for that. At the same time, since I realize that if I hoard my riches, they will go mouldly or be eaten by mice, I have also become a communist. *
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When a young man falls in love with a girl, for instance, he becomes a communist. Yes, a family is the first community; that is where it all begins. The wisest way, therefore, is to let both your capitalistic and communistic tendencies blossom. You should be able to be both in turn in the course of the same day. To be only a capitalist is to live in one's own little corner and have no awareness of anyone else, and that is very bad. On the other hand, to be with other people because one is incapable of living alone, is a very dreary kind of communism. Personally, I have solved the problem by keeping half the day for myself. In that half I work and pray and meditate: I amass wealth. and the other half of the day is for others and I talk and receive people: I distribute my wealth. If you choose this way you will be happy because both aspects of your nature will be satisfied. If you are always alone and never give anything of yourself to others, you will feel unhappy and depressed; something will be lacking. If you are always with others, on the other hand, you will lose everything, your reservoirs will be drained dry and there will be nothing left for you. So you have to become a capitalist and spend a little less time with others and more time replenishing your wealth. *
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Both those who accumulate too much and those who distribute too much are unhappy. but I have found the third solution: half and half. This is the only solution that can make human beings happy. You think that all this is quite childish but, I assure you, it can have far-reaching repercussions. Take the case of married people, for instance.: if they exaggerate their communism, they inevitably end by separating and rejecting each other, because there is no poetry left in their relationship. It is too prosaic to be always together in the same bed. If they really want to solve the problem, they are going to have to be a little more capitalistic, to be apart from time to time. It would be better if they sometimes had twin beds. What a lot of things in life are still not understood! *
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Only Initiates are genuine capitalists and genuine communists because they are fully conscious fo being both. They know that the two currents must circulate, that it is a law of life, the law of give and take. Yes, this is eternal life: to receive gifts from Heaven so that we may distribute what we have received and that it may all be returned to Heaven, once again, to be purified. Our circulatory system is both capitalistic and communistic: the venous system is capitalistic because the blood from every part of the body collects in the lungs to be purified. And the arterial system is communistic because it sends the blood to the heart to be distributed throughout the body.
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The circulation of the blood is a reflection of a cosmic process. The energy that comes from God, from the centre, flows through the different kingdoms of nature (human, animal and vegetable) to vivify them and, as it flows, it collects all kinds of impurities. Then, by ways which are still unknowned to us, it returns to the lungs and heart of the universe to be purified and distributed, once again, to God's creatures. This, then, is the true meaning of capitalism and communism: this circulation. But the problem is that human beings are divided amongst themselves because they don't understand this meaning; that is why things are in such a sorry state. Communists must understand that Capitalists have a reason for existing and that they only need to be educated. they must tell them, 'You are truly magnificient, capable people! Heaven has given you great gifts, great will-power and great intuition. but you have become so submerged and over-burdened by your riches that you need to distribute them. Proof of this can be seen in the fact that no one is satisfied. The workers never stop complaining and making new demands and they will continue to be dissatisfied because they don't possess the light they need.
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What is really behind this constant dissatisfaction? I'll tell you: it is that human beings, who have never understood that they must have a high ideal, a divine idea capable of renewing and purifying the atmosphere, end by being suffocated and poisoned. Whatever they do and wherever they go, even on holiday in the mountains or by the sea, they are always in a deplorable state of asphyxiation. Yes, even when they get away from their factories and workshops, they continue to suffer from a feeling of defeat because they have nothing to illuminate or purify them inwardly: they have lost contact with Heaven.
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True communism is not a question of improving the material conditions of the workers. True communism is to in communion with Heaven; this is the only way to be happy. Even if your work load is too heavy and conditions are poor, you will be able to put up with these difficulties and rise above conditions; nothing can really wear you down if you have something inside you that heals, enlightens and strenghtens you. *
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Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov

So, as you see, the true capitalist is an Initiate; he gets richer and richer every day. And he is also a true communist, for he spends his days and nights distributing his fruits. But he keeps his capital, for he could do nothing without it. Suppose someone comes to me and says, 'What a magnificient violin you have; do give it to me!' If I'm a true capitalist, I will say, 'No, I won't give you my violin; it's my private property. But you can come here every day and I'll play it for you.' But young people, girls and boys, give away their violin - their heart - and then, when they have lost it, they weep and wail, 'What given it away! A poor girl gives her heart to a boy who is so clumsy that the first thing he does is drop it. And then she cries because her heart is broken. If she had had any sense she would have known that the boy didn't need two hearts. In Bulgaria we say that you cannot carry two water melons under one arm. Keep your hearts, therefore - don't give them to anyone but the Lord - but distribute your sentiments to others. This is the best way to understand things.
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Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov